Page 221 of Historical Hotties
A loud and deep voice echoed off the walls, loud enough to startle Caledonia. She jumped at the sound, instinctively turning around to see two enormous knights a few feet behind her.
Self-preservation kicked in.
She pushed the woman she’d just helped toward the stairs, hissing encouragement to flee, but she didn’t try to run after her. She had a feeling she wouldn’t make it to the stairs.
“What do you want?” she demanded. “These people have done nothing wrong. They have nothing of value for you.”
The knight advanced on her. “What is your name?”
“Why?”
“Are you Caledonia de Tosni?”
That should have made her turn and run away as fast as she could, but she could only manage great confusion.
“Whoareyou?” she demanded. “Why do you want to know?”
The knight kept coming. “Henry has sent me,” he said. “Are you Lady de Tosni?”
Henry. She was certain he didn’t mean anyone other than the king, because she and Henry had a difficult history together, butthat didn’t abate her confusion. And she certainly didn’t want to give this knight her identity.
“I do not understand,” she said. “Why would you even ask me such a question?”
The knight finally came to a halt and looked at her. “Because I was told Caledonia de Wylde de Tosni was being held against her will in this place,” he said. Then he flipped up his three-point visor to get a better look at her. “I was told to find a lady with white hair, and you have white hair.Areyou Lady de Tosni? I require an answer.”
She stared at him a moment before looking at the man behind him, hearing screams and commotion in the distance. It was dark on this level and so difficult to see, but she could see people trying to escape in the other direction. But the knight’s words were sinking in and her gaze returned to him.
“I am not being held against my will,” she said. “Did the king tell you that?”
The knight nodded. “He did,” he said. “If you do not tell me that you are Lady de Tosni, I am going to assume that you are and take you with me. If you are not the lady I seek, I would suggest you tell me now.”
Even in the dim light, Caledonia could see that he had the brightest blue eyes she’d ever seen. “I am not the lady you seek,” she said.
“What is your name?”
“It is no concern of yours.”
Before he could reply, a body flew between them, screeching and flashing a dagger. Lady Lupa crashed into Caledonia and nearly sent her onto her bum.
“Do not fear, Lady de Tosni!” she cried, wielding a wicked-looking dagger against the knight. “I will protect you. Run! Follow the others and run!”
Caledonia rolled her eyes as her cover was unknowingly blown. Before she could take another breath, the knight was shoving Lady Lupa out of the way and Caledonia ended up over one of his broad shoulders.
He was heading for the exit.
But Caledonia wasn’t going to give up without a fight. She began to twist and kick, managing to squirm off his shoulder enough to ram a finger into his right eye. He staggered but didn’t let her go, now helped along by four knights. Caledonia recognized two of them as one she’d brained and one she’d kicked in the groin. She hadn’t struck hard enough to keep them down, and the quintet of heavily armed knights hauled her up the rickety wooden stairs to the secret exit that so many people were now aware of.
“Put me down!” Caledonia demanded, kicking one of the knights in the head when he came over to help subdue her. “Put me down or I swear I will kill you all!”
The knight who held her was blinking his right eye furiously, the one she’d jabbed a finger into. “Lady, I was sent to save you, and save you I shall,” he said. “I do not know why you are resisting my efforts, but that ends now.”
That only seemed to inflame Caledonia, who threw herself sideways and ended up falling onto the ground. He still had her by the hair, however, and he easily picked her up and swung her back over his shoulder. When she began to howl and push at him again, he spanked her.
Hard.
Caledonia gasped at the sting of his swat.
“Youbrute,” she spat, now trying throw herself off his shoulder, grabbing what mail she could get a hold of on his back to use as leverage. “How dare you strike me! I will have your head for that!”
